Culinary dishes can be formed from a variety of different materials and have a variety of different shapes. The shapes can vary from a plate-like dish which is almost entirely flat, but typically has a rim which extends slightly higher than a floor, to a dish that is more in the form of a bowl, with a rim significantly higher than a floor of the dish. Dishes can be round, square, rectangular, or other shapes.
Dishes can be formed of durable materials which can be readily sanitized so that the dishes are generally reusable, or can be formed to be disposable. Disposable dishes are convenient, especially when provided with food thereon for sale. A purchaser can potentially eat the food off of the disposable dish and then dispose of the dish without having the burden of washing and storing the dish until ready to be used again. However, disposable dishes increase the waste which ends up either requiring recycling or dumping into a landfill.
Some materials are known which are compostable and/or biodegradable. For instance, some wood pulp or wood fiber pressed materials (such as in the form of fiberboard or thick craft paper or cardboard materials) are known which can meet various different criteria for at least some degree of biodegradability or compostability. Such paper based materials are not entirely satisfactory for display and sale of food items thereon because the material, being somewhat water soluble, will to some degree absorb moisture in the food item being presented, and cause discoloration and/or sogginess of the dish.
One highly effective and fully compostable and biodegradable material has more recently been known to be formed into a dish which is formed of palm leaves of the areca palm. When leaves of the areca palm are pressed under high pressure between plates having a shape with a gap between the plates similar to a desired shape for a plate, and with such pressing also occurring with the application of heat and/or moisture, the leaf is pressed into a dish shape. The areca leaf has some degree of waxiness naturally present therein which leaves the pressed leaf dish with a natural coating which resists absorption of moisture sufficient to avoid “sogginess” even when wet food items are placed thereon. As a further benefit, such dishes formed of palm leaves only require the application of pressure, heat and/or steam to be formed into a dish. No chemicals or other additives are required, so that full compostability and full biodegradability and food grade usability is obtained. Furthermore, the leaf pressed into a dish form maintains a desirable organic appearance, with lines apparent therein and a color thereof, as well as a texture which readily conveys to the user that the dish is formed of a natural organic material.
One problem which has been encountered with the manufacture of dishes from pressed palm leaves is that the variable nature of the input stock placed into the press leaves the dish with some degree of variableness in thickness, perimeter contour, and a degree to which an upper edge of the side walls terminates within a single common plane. While such variability adds uniqueness and interest to such dishes, this variability and the upwardly extending upper edges of the sides of such prior art dishes have made it impractical to form a lid which can effectively attach to such dishes, especially with a reliability that a lid will attach to all or substantially all dishes, rather than having a high failure rate due to the variability in the final shape of such prior art dishes.
Lids are important for many situations. For instance, when food items are presented for sale in a store or restaurant it is often desirable for the food items to have a cover. This cover is often in the form of a clear plastic lid which is removable from the dish. A clear plastic cover allows a purchaser to see the food item through the lid, and yet have confidence that other shoppers have not handled the food item directly because the lid has protected the food item, and also that flies or other flying insects have been kept from contact with the food items. Accordingly, a need exists for a pressed leaf dish which can have a sufficiently uniform contour at a perimeter thereof that a lid can attach effectively thereto, and a need also exists for a lid appropriately modified to accommodate some degree of variability in the thickness and flatness of perimeter portions of the dish, so that a lid can be provided which can effectively attach to a pressed leaf dish.